Payday

The Georgia Supreme Court has accepted the voluntary license surrender of an attorney after two petitions for a sanction less than disbarment had been rejected by the court

Temple, who became a member of the Georgia Bar in 1990, admits that on December 17, 2015, she was convicted in the Supreme Court of the State of New York of attempted criminal usury in the second degree, a misdemeanor; the conviction arose out of her role as counsel for payday lending companies, in which she advised them and their employees to intentionally violate New York’s criminal usury laws; she knew that the companies named in the indictment with her made “payday loans” featuring an annual percentage rate of interest well over 25% to customers in New York County; and she took actions and made decisions to support them in doing so. Temple was sentenced to a conditional discharge for one year, subject to performing 250 hours of community service. Temple requests that this Court accept her petition for voluntary surrender of license, which is tantamount to disbarment.

The court accepted license surrender in an unrelated case.

Gaines admits that, on October 27, 2015, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, he entered into a negotiated plea of guilty to four federal felonies: two counts of bid-rigging conspiracy in violation of 15 U.S.C § 1, and two counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349. A more detailed description of the conduct to which Gaines pleaded guilty is set forth in this Court’s previous opinion cited above. Gaines admits that, by way of his guilty plea, he has violated Rule 8.4 (a) (2) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct found in Bar Rule 4- 102 (d). 

(Mike Frisch)